Guitar World editor brings mysterious Jimmy Page into focus

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with Guitar World editor-in-chief Brad Tolinski, whose new book is Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page.

Dating from their earliest reviews, which were often harsh and misinformed, the members of the legendary rock group Led Zeppelin have always had a complicated relationship with the press.

Their overnight success led to much carping from establishment rock writers, and by the time the critics caught up, Led Zeppelin was already the biggest and most extravagant group in the world. With its mystique came less access to writers. And the band has held a grudge to the present day – as was evident during a recent awkward press conference promoting the band’s new concert movie of its 2007 one-night reunion.

One person who has managed to lift the veil is longtime Guitar World editor-in-chief Brad Tolinski, who has held a series of wide-ranging interviews over the years with Zeppelin’s creative force, legendary guitarist Jimmy Page. Often mysterious and remote, Page has been just as difficult to pin down in the three decades since Led Zeppelin called it quits.

Not so with Tolinski, whose interviews with Page cover everything from his choice of guitar and amp at every stage of his career to the complicated relationships that held the group together during its rise.